Who's Got the Crack?
by Michael Penman
After years of working with the addicts, street walkers and homeless of Winnipeg, Michael Penman set out to record the daily lives of those who find themselves on the fringe of society. Who�s Got the Crack? details a year in the life of an urban social worker. Penman�s accounts of his daily routine are at once intriguing and scary as hell. The most fascinating aspect of this book, however, is the author�s constant search for his sister, rumoured to be hiding in amongst Winnipeg�s dilapidated crack houses and under-equipped woman�s shelters.
Recorded from August 2001 to October 2002, Penman�s work highlights the immediacy of the subjects� lives as well as the urgent need to address the growing problems in Winnipeg�s red light district.
Having moved to Winnipeg from suburban Ontario at the age of seven, Michael Penman remembers being intrigued by the red light district even in his childhood. After receiving a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Winnipeg, he went back to school 18 months later to graduate with a second degree, this time in social work. He still lives downtown.
�A riveting work� detailed accounts of a way of life many of us have never dreampt of, let alone lived.� (Orville McKay, Montreal Gazette)
�This is what Canadians want and need; someone speaking frankly and truthfully about the social problems we�ve too often failed to address �
(Libby Davies, MP NDP)
Excerpt fromWho's Got the Crack?
�The front lawn of the decrepit house was littered with dirtied children�s toys, a Fisher-Price kitchen set, deflated soccer ball, a lost mitten. The front door was unlocked. Or more precisely had been kicked in. There was an indentation like the heel of a boot, where the double bolt would have kept the occupants locked inside. As I stepped into the front step I could see the staircase directly in front of me to the right I could see a ways into the house, from where I was I could tell the rooms were relatively vacant. The floor was almost black with dirt and, from the top of the staircase, I could hear small, bare feet on their way to greet me.�
$20.95 (Can), $16.95 (US)
Non-fiction, (softcover) 120mm x 150mm
396 pp
0-90210-78-9